Hamilton: The world would erupt if we lost the British GP

Lewis Hamilton feels his Britain should be pushing for two races as well as ensuring the future of F1 at Silverstone.

Lewis Hamilton feels his home country should be pushing for two British races as well as ensuring the future of Formula 1 at Silverstone.

After it was confirmed that Silverstone owners the British Racing Drivers' Club [BRDC] had triggered a contract clause to breakout of its British Grand Prix deal - effectively meaning its last F1 race will be held in 2019 - the future of the race has been thrown into doubt.

Hamilton, who sees the Silverstone race as a cornerstone of the F1 calendar, says with the huge number of fans attending the British Grand Prix year-on-year keeping the race should be seen as a no-brainer and has faith new F1 owners Liberty and the BRDC will come to an agreement on a new deal.

While Hamilton is a strong defender of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone the three-time F1 world champion also feels his home country could welcome a second F1 race at another circuit.

At the same time that the BRDC triggered its F1 contract clause, London hosted a new event 'F1 Live London' which ramped up speculation about a potential city street race in the British capital.

Hamilton hasn't referred to a London street race directly but he feels the passion and interest of the British fans would welcome a second race in the United Kingdom.

"I feel like this, the UK, is the home of motorsport as we've obviously got lots of teams here," Hamilton said. "You see the crowd that we have every grand prix. There's no reason to not have a grand prix.

"I could understand if there was no-one turning up and it was costing a lot - but the fans save up and spend so much money on these weekends. I think it would be a real shame to lose it.

"I don't believe for a second that we will lose the British Grand Prix because the world would erupt, I think. The world of sport. I will do whatever I can to encourage them and make sure it does happen.

"We do have a lot of great circuits in the UK, be great to be able to utilise this one and another one. We used to have two grand prix in Spain, the second one and the track wasn't any good, so it would be kind of cool to use another great one here potentially."